The volume of data transfer and related human consumption of information is growing exponentially in the network era, resulting in a condition commonly referred to as information overload. The result for the modern organization is an ever increasing challenge to manage the quantity and quality of information being transferred, consumed, and stored within computer networks.
Enormous amounts of structured and unstructured information is being consumed by knowledge workers that is redundant or irrelevant to the knowledge worker's job, or the mission of the organization, creating serious challenges for organizations while reducing the return on investment for information technologies and knowledge workers.
Systems deployed previously attempting to reduce information overload and increase knowledge worker productivity have been designed primarily to address either the symptoms of the problem, or a specific portion thereof; including desktop productivity suites, higher performance search engines, and reducing unsolicited e-mail.
In recent years, computer standards bodies have been approaching the challenge by improving machine to machine automation and structure to documents with XML, RDF, SOAP, and OWL, commonly referred to as the Semantic Web.
Emerging positions within networked organizations attempting to optimize the digital workplace include the Chief Knowledge Officer (hereinafter “CKO”) who is responsible for improving the value of human and intellectual capital to better achieve the organization's mission.
Despite these individual and collective efforts, the problems associated with information overload continue to grow exponentially. According to research firms IDC and Delphi Group, the average knowledge worker spends about a quarter of his or her day looking for information.
A related serious problem for knowledge workers affecting productivity and innovation is that intellectual property converted to digital form is simple to copy and distribute, providing disincentives for creative problem solving, the sharing of knowledge and intellectual property, and therefore improving work quality.
Given the complexities of the digital workplace environment, it would be beneficial for organizations to employ a holistic metadata system including modules to manage the knowledge yield for the entire organization, for each work group within the organization, and each individual member of the organization so they can continually optimize his/her knowledge yield for the continuously changing work environment.